“An acceptable answer, Katzu,” nodded the Emperor. “Your logic is, as always, impeccable. You now have that chance to talk Lord Marak out of doing something foolish.”
“Before you speak, Katzu,” interrupted Lord Marak, “I would like to ask that you continue to keep this information secret until I release you from that vow.”
“But I have already reported to the Emperor,” protested Katzu.
“The Emperor had promised me that what is said here will not be used in a manner that would preclude my right of retribution,” insisted Lord Marak.
“Lord Marak is correct,” sighed the Emperor. “I did make that promise in an attempt to locate my assassin.”
“I will obey the spirit as well the actual promise of my Emperor,” declared Katzu, “but I still feel free to offer my advice. Lord Marak, to go against a sitting member of the Lords’ Council is suicide. I know in your short rise to power in the frontier, that you have had stunning successes. I have endeavored to find out the secret arrangements that you have made to avoid bloodshed and have not been able to. Still, going up against Lord Patel will be nothing like battling Lord Ridak. I implore you to assess the risks carefully. Your leadership has worked wonders in the frontier. I do not wish to see you eliminated so early in your life.”
The Emperor’s eyebrows rose as he listened to the mediator’s words. It was the first hint that someone truly appreciated what Lord Marak was doing, and Katzu was not just anybody to the Emperor. He was one of the few people that the Emperor confided in.
“I assure you, Katzu,” smiled Lord Marak, “that I do not intend to amass my armies and strike at Lord Patel’s army. I will seek my retribution in a bloodless way if possible, but I will not let his actions go unpunished.”
“May I ask what it is that you plan to do?” inquired Marshal Chack.
“I am not sure at this moment,” answered Lord Marak. “My goal is not to hurt the Nordon clan, if that is of any help. Lord Patel has been dishonest and underhanded. I plan to force him to abandon such ways in the future. What I can assure you is that I will do nothing before the end of the Assembly of Lords. I will not interfere in the running of this country.”
“That is sufficient to satisfy me,” declared the Emperor. “Katzu, thank you not only for coming so quickly, but for what you do for your country. Marshal Chack, you have your work cut out for you. Seek out our assassin. Do not concentrate so hard on Lord Patel that you ignore other possibilities. While there is no doubt that he is Lord Marak’s enemy, he is not the only one. Personally, I do not see Lord Patel as a suspect for assassination. It is not his style.”
The marshal and Katzu turned to leave the room. Lord Marak rose uncertainly and looked from the marshal to the Emperor. While no longer a suspect, he had not been given leave to depart.
“Stay, Lord Marak,” invited the Emperor. “As long as you are here, there are some other matters that I would like to discuss with you.”
Lord Marak nodded and sat back down.
“You intrigue me, Lord Marak,” opened the Emperor. “The rumors about you are among the most mysterious in the nation, yet you are but a minor frontier lord. Some say you rose to power by tricking Lord Ridak. Others say that you were favored as a son of Lord Ridak and betrayed him. Which should I believe?”
“None of them,” Lord Marak smiled. “Lord Ridak was a devious man. He sought to use me as a scapegoat for his failures. Fardale was a failing estate and its contracts were going to be defaulted. He set me up as Lord of Fardale so that he would have someone to blame for the failure. The only problem with his plan is that I did not fail. I succeeded, and he hated me for it.”
“That sounds typical,” frowned the Emperor. “I know of the Lords’ Council settlement that declared the Torak clan, but I understand that you were involved in a previous one. I believe it involved a dispute with the Sorgan and Litari clans. There was a settlement before the mediator arrived. Would you care to explain what happened?”
“With no disrespect intended, Emperor,” frowned Lord Marak, “I would prefer not to discuss that settlement.”
“It was embarrassing for you?” questioned the Emperor. “Young lords often make mistakes, Marak. It is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“While I do not claim any semblance of perfection,” clarified the Torak lord, “I am not embarrassed by the settlement. It was a good settlement for all concerned.”
“Now you have me more curious than ever,” chuckled the Emperor. “Why do I get the feeling that you came out the best in the negotiations?”
“That I cannot say,” smiled Lord Marak.
“Let me tell you something that I regard as a personal secret, Lord Marak,” the Emperor said conspiratorially. “As noble as many think the lords of Khadora are, there are only two men in this country that I truly trust. The Imperial Marshal Chack is one of them. The mediator, Katzu, is the other. Today I saw something in Katzu’s eyes that I have not seen in some time. He admires you, Lord Marak. That makes me want to know everything there is to know about you.”
“I feel honored,” Lord Marak stated. “Katzu has been efficiently honest in all dealings that I know of. He strikes me as the ideal Khadoran.”
“I would wager that he feels the same about you,” replied the Emperor. “I also believe he is wily enough to have learned most of your secrets, but do not worry. He would not even tell me if he had.”
“I am afraid that secrets are required at the moment,” sighed Lord Marak. “As you well know, I have more enemies than friends.”
“A most truthful statement,” nodded the Emperor. “That makes me ask why you do what you do. You are a lord at a very young age. You live in the frontier where few lords will bother you. Yet you campaign for the freedom of slaves. Why do you bother? You could have a relatively good life, instead of having all of the lords in Khadora wishing you dead. Why do you do it?”
“It is necessary,” shrugged Lord Marak. “I have heard that you are a student of history, Emperor. Tell me of the beginning of Khadora.”
The Emperor looked strangely at the young lord, but he said, “Khadoratung is the beginning of Khadora. Here is where the country started. Our founder Khador stood upon a hill overlooking the Imperial Valley and declared that it was where we would live.”
“What about before the founding of Khadoratung?” questioned Lord Marak.
“There are few records that predate Khadoratung,” declared the Emperor. “Why would they matter in any event?”
“Because Khadora is the last refuge of a fleeing army,” declared Lord Marak. “The indigenous peoples called the Khadorans invaders. Their histories tell of the massive armies that arrived in great ships. The scrolls tell how the invaders burned their ships so that they could never return to where they came from. They mention how the invaders set out to annihilate the indigenous peoples, not only here in Khadora, but in Omunga and Fakara as well.”
“How do you know what the Chula believe?” the Emperor asked skeptically.
“I have asked them,” Lord Marak stated. “I have spoken with the Chula, the Sakovans, and the Qubari. Their stories are remarkably similar. What does that mean to an historian?”
“You have actually spoken to these savages and lived to tell about it?” asked the Emperor with disbelief in his voice.
“The Chula do not seek to kill Khadorans,” Lord Marak said. “There are continual battles only because the Khadorans are still trying to annihilate the Chula. Ask yourself when was the last time that the Chula invaded any lord’s holdings.”
“They never do,” remarked the Emperor. “They know they would be destroyed.”
“Would they?” asked Lord Marak. “I consider myself a well-trained warrior. I must admit to you that I would be fearful of going up against the Chula. I would rather fight every lord in Khadora first.”
“What are you saying?” questioned the Emperor. “Do you really think they are that strong? Is there a threat to Khadora from these savages?”